Bamburgh House on High Lane, Chorlton-cum-Hardy is almost exactly 150 years old and has been the home during that time of a number of interesting individuals.
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| Bamburgh House, 2018 |
Some of them have already had their stories told in Andrew’s recent posts on this Blog, below are a few others. Most were gleaned from instances where Bamburgh House residents featured in press reports I found in “Find My Past’s” newspaper archive.
The earliest reports are dated 15th & 16th May, 1874 from the Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser which record Henry Marshall winning the first prize (£10 and a silver cup or plate) at the International Horse Show being held in the Royal Pomona Gardens in Cornbrook, Manchester. His victory came courtesy of his black pony “Tommy” in the “pony, under 12 hands, to carry children” class. Henry Marshall seems to have been the house’s first tenant, appearing in both the 1871 census and that year’s Chorlton-cum-Hardy rate book.
After an interval of a quarter of a century another resident of Bamburgh House shows up in the archive; Will Willis is shown in several issues of “Stage” the journal of the theatre industry. The issue of 10th August, 1899 carried an entry from Mr. Will Willis in which he is touting for work describing himself as a comedy and character (actor). Later editions indicate that he did successfully follow his chosen career path as in January, 1910 at Liverpool, Pavillion, February, 1910 Manchester’s, Queen’s Park Hippodrome, and in the Chorley Hippodrome in January, 1915.
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| Queens Park Hippodrome, Harpurhey |
The 1900 rate book for Chorlton-cum-Hardy township has an entry for the property giving the owner as John S(quire) Diggle,1 who had also occupied the house for the previous decade before moving to Southport. The occupier was recorded as Berth Barcroft, who for the present remains a bit of a mystery. Mr. Diggle was born in 1869 in Radcliffe, Lancashire; intriguingly, none of his census entries show him following any occupation, in 1891, 1901, and 1911 he is shown as “living on own means” He died on 11th March and cremated on Wednesday 13th March, 1940. In the previous year’s register, he is shown as “retired” born on 11th February, 1868 and living at 222, Clarendon Road, Whalley Range, Manchester. John Squire Diggle was a well-known breeder of Collie dogs during the 1890’s. On the 4th October, 1893 at the Scottish Kennel Club’s Dog Show in Edinburgh he won the President’s Challenge Cup in the collie bitch class with his “ Chorlton Precilla”. He also won prizes at the Cheshire Agricultural Show in Stockport in September 1891 and the Oban Dog Show in December 1895 when his tricolour “Ringleader” was placed first in the Collie open dog category.
One of the residents of Bamburgh House in 1939 was Margaret Heathcote Jack2 whose former occupation was given as a kennel maid. The following year she married George William Kenneth Savage a very colourful individual who appears in the press archives on three or four separate occasions. He was born in London on the 17th December, 1911 as shown in his papers on joining the Merchant Navy ship Helder in September, 1939. (these also record he had brown eyes, fair hair & complexion, a scar on his forehead and stood 5’ 91/2” tall. In February, 1933 several papers carried a Reuters account of an epic 30,000 mile “hike” he had been on for 2 years. His adventures included being attacked on an African river boat, wandering in the desert for 23 days, spending a week in jail in Egypt after entering that country without a permit. Later after returning to Europe he hiked through the Brenner Pass between Austria and Italy in such intense cold that he walked continuously for 16 hours for fear of freezing to death.
On arriving back in Manchester, he set up in business as “Kenneth Savage Boarding Kennels Riding Master” The business soon got into some financial difficulty and he was made bankrupt. His bankruptcy was finally discharged in August, 1946.
The Liverpool Daily Post on the 4th September, 1945 carried a report that he, his wife, and 31/2 -years-old son, David, were rescued, the previous morning, by the coastguard at Cemaes Bay and the Holyhead lifeboat when his small yacht was spotted drifting on to the dangerous Skerries reef of Anglesey.
On the 13th October, 1948 Mr. Savage also featured in a story in the Manchester Evening News after appearing in court charged with smuggling 30,000 cigarettes from Switzerland. He said he bought them to “use-up” his winnings from a cassino in the South of France. He was found guilty and fined the not insignificant sum of £400 (which equates to almost £15,000 today)
George William Kenneth Savage died on the 9th September, 1961 at 13, Avenue deo Broursailles, Cannes, Alpes Maritimes, France while he was residing on Avenue Font de Veyre, Cannes Le Bocca.
Pictures; Bamburgh House - 2018 from the collection of Tony Goulding, Queens Park Hippodrome, Harpurhey m06605 courtesy of Manchester Libraries, information and Archives, Manchester City Council, http//images.manchester.gov.uk/index.php?session=pass
Notes: -
1) John S Diggle was married to Harriet Eleanor (née Oakes). The baptismal register of St. Clement’s, Chorlton-cum-Hardy has an entry for the baptism of the couple’s daughter, Violet, on the 27th January, 1892, she was born on the 29th October, 1891. The father’s occupation is recorded as “Gentleman”.
2) Margaret Heathcote Jack was born on the 24th January, 1920 in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, Cheshire. Her father Thomas Alexander was a ladies’ skirts and costumes manufacturer. Her mother was Elsie (née Heathcote) was born on the 15th November, 1885 in the Sefton Park area of Liverpool.
After such an adventurous and dangerous life I wonder just how George Savage died. Skiing in the Alps perhaps or was it, against all odds, in his sleep. Love these kinds of histories they bring a building to life.
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